Freshchat allows you to use SMS to send and receive text messages for business communications using Twilio. You can add new phone numbers or import your existing numbers from Twilio within Freshchat. For a general overview of SMS, check Getting Started with SMS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Prerequisites
• Connecting your Twilio account with Chat
• Sending and Receiving Messages on Twilio
  • Text message restrictions
• Message types supported in SMS
• Troubleshooting Twilio Errors

Prerequisites

1. Make sure you have an active Twilio account.
2. Ensure that you have phone numbers in your Twilio account.
3. If you do not have a Twilio account, you can sign up for one easily here. 

Connecting your Twilio account with Chat

To add numbers from Twilio:

• Log in to your Chat account as Admin.
• Go to Admin > Integrations > SMS.
• Click Add Numbers and then click Add from Twilio.

• Enter the following details: Account name, Account SID, and Auth Token

• Click Next.

• Once the authentication is successful, you can proceed to the next steps. Check the FAQs below to troubleshoot authentication errors.

• Select the phone numbers from your Twilio account to enable SMS. You can choose to add multiple numbers.
  

• If you do not have any numbers, you can buy new numbers directly from Twilo.

• Finally, click Complete Setup. You can now use the added phone numbers to send and receive text messages.

Sending and Receiving Messages on Twilio

• Once you add phone numbers to your Twilio account, you can send and receive text messages to and from your customers.
• Twilio supports phone numbers from many countries around the world. You can check their website for details.
• Agents can view the SMS conversations in the team inbox and easily respond to customer queries.

Text message restrictions

• Each message can have 160 characters. The message will be split and sent if you enter a longer message. For example, if you type a 161-character message, it will be split into two messages; one of 153 and one of 8.
• Currently, SMS on Chat allows only text messages and links. You cannot send MMS.

Assigning conversations from Twilio to your agents 

• Twilio also gets its own Topic in Admin > Topics.
• You can use it to further enhance your customer service experience by having a specialized agent group handle these questions by assigning the Topic (all the questions from the Facebook page) to the group. 

Creating bots on Facebook Messenger from Chat

• When creating the bot, you can select Facebook Messenger in the first step right after naming the bot. 
  

Message types supported in SMS

Yes - Supported, No - Not supported, NA - Not supported by SMS.

Troubleshooting Twilio Errors

1. I am unable to send/receive SMS.

• Check if the Twilio account is connected.
• Check if the added phone number status is active.
• Check if you have enough credit in your Twilio account.
• Check if the destination country where SMS is sent is supported for SMS via Twilio and Global SMS is available on the phone number. For more details, check this article.

2. My messages are undelivered.

    Check this article to troubleshoot and fix Twilio undelivered messages.

3. How do I find my SID and auth token to connect to my Twilio account? 

    Check the section above.

4. I do not have a Twilio account. How can I create one? 

    It's easy to sign up for Twilio. Please check their Sign up page. 

5. What are the limitations of Twilio Free Trial accounts? 

     Twilio free accounts have some restrictions. Check this article to know the limitations.

6. Can I use phone numbers from my Freshdesk Contact Center account? 

     Currently, this is not possible, but will be available soon.

7. Can I send global SMS on Twilio Trial accounts?  

    Twilio sets no additional restriction for Global SMS on trial accounts. Check this article for more details.